JUNE 15-JULY 5, 2016
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
McWhinney’s
newest
apartment community in Fort
Collins will have all the Class
A features renters have come
to expect, plus a host of ame-
nities revolving around it.
Cycle Apartments will be
located alongside the new
Foothills Mall, putting shop-
ping, dining and entertain-
ment at residents’ doorstep.
“We absolutely love what
Alberta (Development) has
done with the redevelopment
of Foothills
Mall, with
all the res-
t a u r a n t s
and
the
new the-
ater. We’re
about
a
block away
from pub-
lic transit.
We
like
the idea that when residents
come home, they don’t have
to get in their car to enjoy a
night out. That was appeal-
ing to us when we acquired
the site,” said David Jaudes,
McWhinney vice president,
multifamily.
Cycle Apartments is a 405-
unit community that will
break ground next month on
10.5 acres along the east and
north sides of the mall. There
will be 18 three- and four-sto-
ry buildings linked together
through pedestrian-oriented
courtyards, each representing
different activities. Adjoining
each courtyard is a different
“social fitness” area, includ-
ing collaborative, open office
space, a swimmingpool, club-
house, physical fitness center,
game room, demonstration
kitchen, social lounge, golf
simulator, bike and ski repair
area and more.
“Residents and visitors
in the Cycle neighborhood
can walk through an open
breezeway of each building,
through courtyards revealing
hubs of activity, or connect
with another resident of these
well-appointed homes, each
with individual balcony and
many with attached, tuck-
under parking,” said Dale
Sanders of Johnson Nathan
Strohe, which designed the
community.
The 409,000-square-foot
development will average 37
dwelling units per acre, with
479 parking stalls.
With so many two- and
three-bedroom units already
in the market, McWhinney is
targeting smaller units to pro-
vide more affordable effec-
tive rents. Approximately
60 percent of the units will
be one-bedroom floor plans,
while 20 percent each will
be studio and two-bedroom
apartments.
Although Fort Collins is
seeing increased multifam-
ily construction, Jaudes said
McWhinney’s other commu-
nity within the city, Trails at
Timberline, “is performing
extremely well.”
Absorption of new units,
while not quite keeping pace
with deliveries, also has been
very strong.
“We understand that there
is a, perhaps temporary, over-
supply in the market, but
McWhinney is a long-term
owner, and that’s how we
Johnson Nathan Strohe
Construction of Cycle Apartments at Foothills Mall will begin next month.
David Jaudes
by John Rebchook
Two veteran development
teams, George Thorn of Mile
High Development and Koel-
bel & Co., have teamed up
to develop a key 21.5-acre,
transit-oriented development
in Aurora at what is consid-
ered the southern entrance to
the city.
“It is a long time com-
ing,” said Thorn about what
is known as Regatta Plaza
at Interstate 225 and Parker
Road.
The redevelopment will
likely include a 12-story office
building.
“It will be the first Class
A office high-rise built in
Aurora for I don’t know how
many years,” Thorn said.
“They’re going up every-
where around them, so it is
about time that Aurora had
one. And you won’t find a
better site.”
The development is served
by the Nine Mile light-rail
station, making it a true TOD,
Thorn said.
For a template on what the
redevelopment would be,
you could look at the Colo-
rado Center, which Thorn
developed at Interstate 25
and Colorado Boulevard in
1986.
Colorado Center includes
two 12-story office buildings,
as well as 132,000 square feet
of retail, including a United
Artist Theatre with an IMAX
screen.
Colorado Center, like
Regatta Plaza, is on a light-
rail station.
“When it is all said and
done, we probably will end
up in the neighborhood of
700,000 square feet in Regatta
Plaza,” Thorn said.
The initial site concept
includes 132,000 sf of retail
and 200,000 sf of Class A
office space.
In addition, Regatta will
have about 400 units of hous-
ing.
The concept provides flex-
ibility for additional office or
a hotel if market conditions
are favorable.
Thorn and Koelbel, who
were picked as the master
developers by the Aurora
Urban Renewal Authority, at
the end of May started to raze
the dilapidated buildings on
the mostly abandoned site.
It is one of themost blighted
sites in Aurora, Thorn said.
“Most of the buildings have
been vacant for years,” mak-
ing them a magnet for drug
dealers and vagrants, he said.
“All kinds of bad things
have been happening there,”
he said.
City officials are thrilled to
see the site redeveloped.
“I join my constituents in
breathing a collective sigh
of relief that we have finally
reached this long-awaited
milestone in the redevelop-
ment of Regatta Plaza,” said
Aurora City Council member
Molly Markert, whose ward
encompasses the site.
A rendering of what the redevelopment of Regatta Plaza could look like.
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